Remington Action to .338 Lapua ?

[Powerstroke]

First question would be can the M700 Actions handle the .338 Lapua Case?

Per say .300RUM donor rifle, how much work would be required to rechamber into the Lapua? I know the case is larger diameter, so is there enough material to machine off the bolt face ?

 

[Richracer1]

Right off the bat I would say no due to the RUMs having a bolt face for the .534" base. The 30-378 WBY has a base of .580", the 338 Lapua is .588". The donor action may have to come from a 416 Rigby as it has a bolt face to accept the .589" brass.

Of course I may be full of BS as I don't even pretend to be a gunsmith, but just giving my opinion base on very little knowledge. Let me know if I'm even close to being right.

 

[30-338]

I'm not a gunsmith and know next to nothing. Wyatt makes a 4.00" magazine box for the Rem action and Pacific will make a bolt. You might want to get on http://www.longrangehunting.com and look at the 300 EDGE it's equal to the 300 Laupa but off the 300RUM case and they have some gunsmith on that site that can help you out with cost estimates.

 

[jtoews80]

Try barney lawton actions. they come in whatever bolt face needed and they are a custom action, already blueprinted, so the price is close. Your 700 rem action is worth a bit too, so the upgrade would be not horribly expensive. Don't ask for Barney, he passed on this past winter.

JT.

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

I like his barrels....never tried his actions....

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

Are you sure theres a such thing as a 300 EDGE??? There is a 300 Tomahawk which is the 300 RUM improved. The 338 EDGE is nothing more then a 300 RUM necked up to .338". The 300 RUM case holds about 4-5g more powder then the shortened 338 RUM case.

I am very familiar with LRH.com and no one I know of does 300 EDGES.

I do however have a 338 EDGE built off a rem 700 LSS (was a 300 RUM) by the well known Shawn Carlock from LRH.com. He did an excellent job and it shoots as advertised. The standby load is 92g H-1000 lit by a CCI 250 primer in Rem brass, give or take it does 1/2 MOA quite easily at around 2800-2850fps. That was the first and one of only 2 loads I tried. I also tried 93g of H-1000 for a velocity of 2870fps and 1/2 MOA, but had more vertical then the 92g load, so I stuck with the 92g load for 2840fps. Killed my spike bull last year at lasered 915 yards so its not to bad.

I cant see why you would want a Lapua unless you just want to use lapua brass. The Lapua is no more powerful then the 338 EDGE. I am getting 2840fps w/300g SMK from my 28" HART 338 EDGE. It still has right at 2000ft lbs at 1000 yards. Plenty of thump for deer, elk, black bear, whatever I wanna kill.

The debate will go on forever whether or not its safe to put the lapua in a rem 700. However, if it wasn't that safe, do you really think remington would be chambering it as a FACTORY offering? I really dont think so, but then again, im not a gunsmith, I just like to shoot LR.

If you want to go the Lapua route, that is fine, but your really not gaining a dam thing by going with the lapua. In most cases, the EDGE will outperform (velocity) the Lapua anyways, maybe by a small margin, but the lapua never outdoes the EDGE. They are close enough that it doesn't really matter though. Both sling the 300g SMK to 2800-2900fps and thats all the more you really need.

I just dont like the fact that lapua brass is $2.00+ a piece. Who the hell wants to spend close to $250 on 100 cases??? That is just nuts IMO.

I am pretty much poor, so you can see why I went with the EDGE. I use Remcrap brass and my last group at 800 yards was 5". Dont think a Lapua with Lapua brass will really do any better or worse for that matter.

 

[Powerstroke]

Would actually do it more for just the Lapua factor. It's been one of those I've wanted for several years and have yet to do it. Biggest issue being is I bleed Remington Green and Ford Blue.... I hate to deviate from that.

There are several donor 300 RUM"s around that are fairly cheep, but I'm somewhat in the same boat looking at the data I don't see how it can be done off the Rem Action.

Hmmmm.... back to the 6.5-300RUM idea maybe w/the premium 140gr Nosler AccuBond :shock:

 

[DrMike]

Powerstroke,

Perhaps I'm missing something, but what about the Remington Model 40-XS LR338? They are not a Sako TRS, to be certain, but those that I have shot shoot well and they can be accurized.

 

[JD338]

Powerstroke,

Some say yes while others say no. Since Remington offers a 338 Lapua, I am in the yes camp. If you are going to go the 338 Lapua route, why not get a 338 Lapua AI for increased performance.
Another option is the 338 RUM. A 250 gr PT at an avg vel of 3024 is some serious horse power. I also have a lot of load data I will give you. :wink:

JD338

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

If Remington Lawyers will let Reminton do it, it must be safe.
You just need a good smith to open up the bolt face.

 

[Powerstroke]

DrMike,
Nope, you were not missing anything as it appears I was the one. I've been looking for the Rem in the Lapua chambering, but never seen it till tonite.

Yes, reading on it, it appears there are a few details changed as far as the bolt is concerned from Remington.

#1 Remington bolt with external AR style extractor

#2 Relocated ejector

May certianly be a viable option here.....I'm sure Remington gets the same $$$$ or more than Sako does..... :shock:


JD, the AI option would be sweet and certianly do-able if a build is in the near future.

 

[DrMike]

I believe we sold the Remington for around $1500 CDN last fall. I worked up a load for a couple of them. They shot well, but not great. The action seemed "springy" to me, for lack of a better term. One of the rifles was brought back to be accurized (Pac-nor barrel, blue printed, etc.). I haven't shot it since it was brought back. It was an honest MOA rifle with a variety of loads. However, the fellow that bought it insisted that it should shoot 1/2 inch groups at 300 yards. We explained that he didn't spend enough money for it to do that. He did have some money in it, however. It had a Nightforce scope and a very costly paint job. I took the position that I could probably find him a load, but it would cost a fair amount. As it was, I invested considerable time. There were a number of loads that shot MOA, or perhaps slightly less. However, what he was looking for was beyond the rifle as it was. It was a well-built rifle, however, and certainly gave a basis for building a very accurate gun, I believe.

 

[JD338]

Powerstroke

Very cool! Keep us posted. You might also want to check with OU812. He is shooting a 338 Lapua in a Weatherby custom build and it is a tack driver.
Performance is a little better than a 338 RUM. 250 gr AB at 3000 + fps will put the smack on a bull elk way out there.

JD338

 

[Desert Fox]

Here's a good read courtesy of Dan Lilja.

http://www.riflebarrels.com/articles/cu ... action.htm

Lawton has a group buy going right now for their 8500 action at Snipershide forum. The price I believed is less than 800 bucks. You'll spent just as much using the Remington action for a Lapua build.

+1 with the Improved version of the Lapua. I love mine. I'm into my 5th firing on this batch of brass and I haven't notice any increased in OAL. Actually it's shorten a bit from the original lenght. Here's what they look like in side by side comparison with the regular Lapua.

Lapua brass might be expensive but they will last twice as long when compared with Remington or Winchester brass. Their quality is second to none.

 

[Powerstroke]

Desert Fox,

Excellent read and thank you !

 

[JD338]

Powerstroke,

DF is spot on, Lapua brass will last forever. OU812 told me he has 10-12 loadings on his brass with no issues!

DF,

Thanks for the good read on the Laupa. I like the looks of that AI, very similar to the 338 RUM.

JD338

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

If I was going to buy/build a Lapua, I'd do it the way DF suggests. I don't think you can beat it. The guys up at Windriver rifles would build you a real nice long range rig.

 

[OU812]

PM sent to Powerstroke

 

[OU812]

I just dont like the fact that lapua brass is $2.00+ a piece. Who the hell wants to spend close to $250 on 100 cases??? That is just nuts IMO.

I am pretty much poor, so you can see why I went with the EDGE. I use Remcrap brass and my last group at 800 yards was 5". Dont think a Lapua with Lapua brass will really do any better or worse for that matter.

The Lapua brass maybe 2.00 each or there abouts depending on where you buy them, but I would bet 50-60 pieces of Lapua brass would last the life of the barrel, 1100-1200 rounds. I stopped counting on my original 20 pieces of brass at 15 reloads. The primer pockets are just as tight today as the first day I seated primers in the new brass.

Sad but true you will spend more on Remington brass over the life of your barrel than I will with my Lapua brass. I could sell off 30-40 pieces of the original 100 and still be in good shape by the EOL of my barrel. Something to think about.